PASHTO POETRY AND MILITANCY IN KHYBER PAKHTUNKHWA AFTER 9/11: THEMATIC ANALYSIS OF PASHTO POETRY IN RESISTING MILITANCY

Nadeem Ahmad,Abdul Qayum Khan,Ikram Badshah

doi:10.52567/pjsr.v3i02.203

Abstract

The present study sheds light on Pashto or Pakhto Poetry and Militancy in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa after 9/11. The fieldwork for this study was conducted in the Peshawar district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan, from December 2020 to April 2021. Findings of this research are based on data collected in district Peshawar of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Data for this paper was collected through participant observations, in-depth interviews, Focused Group Discussions (FGDs), and informal discussions with poets, literary people, audience of poetry gatherings, and academicians. Furthermore, the collected data is analyzed through thematic analysis. The works on ‘culture alternatives’ of social movements of Guha and Laclau and ‘weapons of the weak’ by Scott have been consulted for the theoretical framework of the current research. Data collected from various sources reveals that Pashto poetry is influenced by different factors. These includes cross boarder interaction and interaction with neighboring languages, invasions by outsiders, resistances of Pakhtun/Pashtuns to invaders and socio-religious movements where different themes and genres were introduced to Pashto poetry. After 9/11, Pashto poetry played pivotal role in countering militancy, terrorism and so called ‘war on terrorism.’ Pashto poetry internalized themes of Peace, Condemnation of War, Nationalism, and Resilience along with others –in which few were borrowed from the 20th century– into the social fabric of the Pakhtun society. These themes in Pashto poetry entail potentials to counter violence in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa caused by militancy, terrorism and ‘war on terrorism’. Keywords: Pakhtuns, Pashto Poetry, Themes, Resistance, Militancy, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

Highlights

For the past twenty years since 9/11, most of the region inhabited by the Pakhtuns in Pakistan— that includes the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Ex-FATA 1 and part of the Baluchistan province— has been engulfed by militancy, terrorism, and the so-called war on terrorism
As Ghani Khan writes: “Jang la de Mansoor rawan, Toup ao na tapang lari / Na da toro praq lari, Na da zgharo shrang lari” (“Mansoor is going to war without any cannon and mortar; Neither he owns a shining sword nor any valuable armor ”)4. It is the contribution of the Khudai Khidmatgar Movement (KKM) that if we look at the Pashto poetry today, there will be a couplet of nationalism and highlighting of social problems of society in every poem (Hussain K. , 2021)
Violence, and war from Alexander the Great to the war on terror, and the movement of Roshanites and post -Roshanites and KKM responded in its own way intellectually as well as politically to conditions

Summary

Introduction

For the past twenty years since 9/11, most of the region inhabited by the Pakhtuns in Pakistan— that includes the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Ex-FATA 1 and part of the Baluchistan province— has been engulfed by militancy, terrorism, and the so-called war on terrorism. This area borders Afghanistan, which was invaded by the USSR in 1979 and by America in 2001. Explosive devices’ denotation, suicide bombings, beheading and kidnaping in broad daylight became the norm of the day They successfully challenged the state writ in Swat, Ex-FATA and in various other localities.

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Methods

Conclusion